Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Ted Cruz v. NY Values

No doubt by now you have heard over and over how Ted Cruz called Donald Trump out for his "New York values" as a Republican. Cruz' statement was pretty vague as to exactly what he meant by "New York values", but that didn't stop New Yorkers from using their imaginations.

Almost immediately after his vague statement, he was admonished by Trump, Clinton, Gov. Cuomo and NYC Mayor de Blasio to apologize at once for some vaguely veiled insult (mostly not recognizing our great triumph of humanity following the 9/11 attacks) and so he issued one of the best "non-apologies" I have ever heard. It was almost as if he set them up to get the free publicity:

Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Andrew Cuomo and Bill de Blasio have all demanded an apology and I'm happy to apologize. I apologize to the millions of New Yorkers who have been let down by liberal politicians in that state. I apologize to the hard working men and women of the state of New York who have been denied jobs because Gov Cuomo won't allow fracking. Even though there had been many high-paying jobs just south in Pennsylvania, New Yorkers are denied the ability to provide for their families. I apologize to all of the pro-life and pro-marriage and pro-Second Amendment New Yorkers who are told by Governor Cuomo that they have no place in New York because that's not who New Yorkers are. I apologize to all of the small businesses who have been driven out of New York City by crushing taxes and regulations.

I apologize to all of the African-American children who Mayor de Blasio tried to throw out of their charter schools that were providing a lifeline to the American dream. And I apologize to all of the cops and the firefighters and 9/11 heroes who had no choice but to stand turn their backs on Mayor de Blasio, because Mayor de Blasio over and over again stands with the looters and criminals rather than the brave men and women of the law.

For the record, I immediately knew exactly what Cruz meant the first time he used the phrase. I have lived in NYC for 27 years and, as I have stated over and over to my conservative friends who live in more conservative parts of the country, being a "Republican" in New York is much different than being a "Republican" in, say, Oklahoma. In any other place, New York Republicans would be considered at best centrists or even just plain liberals. We are pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, fiscal conservatives.
Well, here's just an example of the Daily News who took great insult to Cruz's value judgment:

And that wasn't even the best (or worst) they could do. What I find really entertaining is how really thin-skinned NY'ers have been about this. Even to go so far as to invoke the horrible days following the 9/11 attacks over 14 years ago to prove how much better we are than the rest of the country. Funny, that they are constantly forgetting that there are actually people who live happily within the oft-forgotten fly-over states between NYC and LA. If you want a taste, just read what Mike Lupica wrote in the NY Daily News today. For some reason ol' Mike (former sportswriter-turned-political analyst). Phony Ted Cruz is the great pretender to the presidency If you read this article, about half way down you will understand exactly why New Yorkers are perceived the way they are with this choice phrase "...trying to make political hay with hayseeds and with New Yorkers..." Yeah, that's the NY I know...

Just as a side note: Just a warning to Trump, Cuomo, Clinton and De Blasio, don't ever get in a debate with a Texan about which state is the greatest. As a Texan myself, we have been fully indoctrinated from early childhood to call it "The Great State Of Texas" for a reason.

33 comments:

A region responding poorly to a politician crapping on it doesn't shock me.

Hillary Clinton is doing a good job of messing up her campaign. She's running against Martin O'Malley (who as I predicted is going nowhere because he is about as exciting as bread and water) and Bernie Sanders so its damn near impossible for her to lose, but she might somehow manage due to her ongoing scandals, poor tactics and inability to connect with ordinary people. *Shrugs* I'm betting she wins the nomination despite her worst efforts but still, her ineptitude is impressive.

At the end of the day, however, that’s simply not true. White progressives have been implementing the same policies in inner cities forever, and black voters — their principal victims — keep coming back for more. Breaking the cycle is a matter of mutual responsibility. Yes, conservatives need to pursue black voters and sell them on a different vision, but to blame the problem entirely on their failure to do is to deny agency to African-Americans. Black voters are not pawns to “messaging.” They’re human beings fully responsible for their own mistakes, and ever since Martin Luther King, Jr.’s horrifying death, a collection of race profiteers and carnival barkers have exercised wildly disproportionate influence over African-American politics. That’s not white America’s fault. Progressivism works for tenured professors, Hollywood directors, and Rahm Emanuel. It’s the path to riches for black radicals. But for black voters, progressivism is a one-way road to continued stagnation and despair. If you care about continued oppression, take a good, hard look at who’s doing the oppressing. See any conservatives?

Last but not least, I am deeply shocked and disappointed that a former politician turned reality tv star has endorsed a former reality tv star turned politician. Seriously, Trump's domination of the field continues to impress. Not that Trump himself impresses me, but its amazing how many people are jumping onto his bandwagon.

That New Yorkers see themselves as the center of the universe is old news. :-)

But Andrew and I talked about this the last time (ugh) Duck Dynasty was in the news: I'm offended by the idea that anybody is considered superior by virtue of their address. Whether it's the "evil" city person who thinks the world revolves around them... or the "salt of the earth" guy who lives in the country away from the big, bad city... or the person who just assumes Texas is the greatest state, just because. :-)

Scott - Sorry, but Texas IS the greatest state and the sooner you realize it the better! Even now I am on track with my nefari...neighborly plotti...er...prodding to bring Texas values to NY and thereby change the face of the world forever.

If you believe that the Duck Dynasty guys are real, then well, I have a bridge about 10 blocks...it was to boost business. They went from $80million to $400million :-D

Irony of ironies. The core New York value is one of boastful self-congratulation, and not only does Trump personify that, but Cruz got it to put itself on full display. New Yorkers were falling all over themselves to denounce Cruz the most. Millions of words were spent by New Yorkers talking about how wonderful New Yorkers are.

And Tryanmax, yeah, well, what Cruz is also making obvious (though he may not know this, but he's smart so I think he does) the "8 million" people that the Dems are caterwauling about being insulted are just the population of NYC (a/k/a "The City").

There are actually 19 million people who live in the entire state of NY so obviously Lupica considers Upstate NY'ers "hayseeds" too. Those 11 million are just as tired of being considered less than those who live in "The City". These upstate "hayseeds" are the same as the stupid "fly-over" hayseeds. And they are much more "conservative" than the typical NYC Republican and they have known Trump for a looooong time and don't like him.

Don't get me started on "fly over" states. I live in the fly-overiest of states. Most of the country is still trying to figure out which state Nebraska is in. The other day, I saw a history book that referenced the "Kansas-Somethingerother Act." Meanwhile, the folks in customer service tell me the address on my account is in Omaha, New England.

Bob Dole's favorite would be Bush. I like Bush as well. Of all the candidates, I trust the most because of his background. He would understand what it means to be the President for all of the people. But he's a Bush and that's never going to happen so it is easy to like Bush.

Now Ted Cruz is a person who people should fear. He a lawyer...a real lawyer. Not like Clinton or Obama who went to prestigious law schools so they could pursue a life in politics. He is an honest to God prosecutor who, if you have ever seen him question anyone during a Senate hearing is terrifying. He doesn't let anyone off with an ambiguous answer. He listens and asks simple "yes" or "no" questions and he listens to the answers. And if they don't answer with "yes" or "no", he is ruthlessly pressing. Ask Dianne Feinstein when he grilled her on gun control and asked the question if there were any other amendments that she thought should be changed because they were inconvenient like, say, the 1st Amendment. It was brilliant. Maybe he would be scary as a President, but he would work with the confines of our Constitutional government and maybe break heads in Congress to get them work together. I would love to see him as AG or even a Supreme Court Justice. At least I know he would be protecting our Constitutional rights.

Everyone "hating" Cruz actually makes me like him more. I would like a President who scares the sh*t out of the world rather than one they laugh at and dismiss. Thing to remember about Cruz...he understands how the checks and balances work. He has been one of the only Senators who has been staunchly defended our rights. And, no offense but there has been no President Dole, so being liked is not all it has been cracked up to be.

I am telling you, Andrew, I just know that Cruz had that "apology" prepared before he even uttered the words "NY Values". And they fell right into his trap. You know how that works - never ask a question you don't already know the answer to, and never make a statement that you don't know exactly how the other side is going to react and are prepared to respond.

The only thing that really concerns me is his Canadian birth issue. And you know that Trump (and Clinton) already have court challenges filed by what I am sure are proxies.

For those of us who have watched Rubio since he was the Florida State Speaker of the House running as one of the first insurgent Tea Partiers against Charlie Crist, the Jeb Bush behavior is very reminiscent of Crist's. Talk of being the "moral center", the sense of "NO ONE BUT ME!" entitlement.

Really, the only thing left is for Jeb to suggest an "alliance" to someone like Christie or Katich to stop Rubio by offering his dead grandmother's cross necklace as collateral. Yes, Crist actually did that.

Koshcat, I have never heard anyone say anything good about Cruz as a person. I'm not sure what that means, but it sounds like he's really quite a little monster. And being Canadian, I think we should call this monster "Cruzilla-eh!"

If Cruz has no soul, then Trump has no brain. Look at Trump's opinions of other people: If they say something nice about him, he loves them, but the moment they are less than enthusiastic, "They are stupid, they're a dummy!" and if they are a woman, "She has an ugly face!"

What I find interesting is the people who love Trump are often the people who found Christie too liberal. Christie speaks his mind but is more eloquent and actually has experience governing in a liberal state. If anyone is brainless it is the Tumpies.

Carly Fiorina saw a bunch of 4 year olds on a field trip and decided to incorporate them into an anti-abortion event she was holding.

Whatever adult was with them and agreed to allow the kids to be used/exposed needs to be fired and punched in the face.

Dedicating oneself to saving babies is admirable, but exposing little kids to that stuff is insane (I remember some years back during a trip to DC, I wasn't successful in shielding my kids from a van covered with images of dismembered babies that was driving around).

Yesterday, presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina allegedly herded an unsuspecting group of pre-schoolers into an anti-abortion event while they were on a field trip in Des Moines, Iowa. She was hosting a “right to life” event at the botanical garden the kids were visiting and sources say she directed 15 of the children to move up to sit at the front of the room with her.

As the kids sat on the floor looking bemused, photographers snapped their picture and the former Hewlett-Packard CEO addressed the crowd with her infamous tirade against the “harvesting of organs” that she insists is done during abortion procedures. Behind the candidate and the kids, a banner with a picture of a fetus on it was displayed prominently.------------------

A spokesperson for Fiorina told The Guardian that the camp was “happy that these children chose to come to Carly’s event with their adult supervisor,” so it does not appear that any type of apology to upset parents is forthcoming.

Kit - I get that he is experienced on state politics, much like Cruz. Just because he might not get the nomination now, doesn't mean that he won't next time around or better yet, fill the VP spot. Though VP is traditionally the road to obscurity.